Wed or I’ll shoot: Inside the criminal world where young men are forced to marry at gunpoint

Adrian Bogdan

The practice of kidnapping young people to get married has made a comeback in Bihar, India, highlighting high unemployment, a stagnant economy, and a rigid caste pyramid The government job that should have been Avinash Mishra’s ticket to a better life has become his nightmare. The 28-year-old teacher from Munger, in the impoverished northern Indian state of Bihar, spends his evenings scanning the streets for unfamiliar vehicles and unknown faces, in fear that he could be kidnapped by his in-